1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the processing of soft or fresh cheeses which are shaped in molds from which the cheese curd is drained and in particular the invention concerns novel apparatus for manufacturing such cheeses so as to produce a high quality product with minimum curd breakage at miminal cost. While not so limited, the invention is especially advantageous in the production of goat's milk cheese.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To make soft or fresh cheeses, one generally pumps raw milk from a reservoir into a pasteurization or reheating apparatus and then into a curdling receptacle where rennet and fermenting ingredients are added. Once the milk is curdled, the curdled morsels are extracted with a ladle and are disposed in individual perforated molds or special draining baskets.
One important factor on which the quality of the cheese depends is whether or not the curd, which is very delicate, is broken during this operation. Moreover, in order to make the cheese in each mold or draining basket to have the same gradation of weight and consistency from top to bottom, each curd portion which ladled out of the curdling receptacle and into the molds must be put into each mold at the same level corresponding to the level at which it was taken from the curdling receptable. After the cheese portions have drained on one side in their draining basket, they are turned and then returned to their draining basket to be drained on the other side. Thereafter they are disposed in groups on the racks of a dryer, then on those of the drying room.
Thus, each cheese portion must be manufactured individually. Such manufacturing technique is costly in labor, and, as seen from the foregoing, it is not exempt from risks. In addition, in the curdling receptacle, the curd is more or less drained depending on the depth at which it is extracted with the ladle. Thus the different cheese portions that are fabricated in this way are likely not have the same qualities, especially not the same weight since the volume the cheese loses during draining depends, of course, on how much the curd has been drained as of the time it is put into the mold.
It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,732,110 and 3,836,684 to manufacture soft cheese, i.e. ricotta cheese, by placing a mixture of curd milk mixture into interconnected processing cells or into a common vat at the bottom of which are placed curd-collecting strainer baskets or strainer cannisters. After curds have formed in the cells or the vat, the cells or vat are drained of whey, and the curds, which float on the whey, are directed into the baskets or strainer cannister which are then removed for drying. Although in U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,110 the curds are formed in individual cells, the baskets associated with the cells cannot be handled as a unified group and instead a rather comlex arrangement of support arms and harnesses must be provided. These support arms and harnesses do not allow convenient turning of the cheese in the molds and especially, they do not allow turning of the molds as a group. These harness elements also interfere with the movement of the curds into the basket which may disturb the curdling milk and may cause deterioration of the quality of the cheese. Another difficulty with the arrangement used in U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,110 is that it permits of drainage only at the bottoms of the mold baskets; and the lost curd coming out with the whey may concentrate at the entrance to the drain opening and may obstruct it. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,684 the strainer cannisters are arranged so that they could be handled as a group; but they are separated from the common vat in which the curds are formed. Thus the transfer of the curds from the vat into the individual strainer cannisters also subjects the curds to breakage and deterioration of the quality of the cheese.
It has also been proposed in French Pat. No. 2 480 561 to place a plurality of perforated molds in a support obturating the perforations of the molds, then to immerse a plurality of superposed such supports in a vat containing a curd forming milk mixture, to withdraw the supports from the vat, and withdraw the molds from each suppoort when curds has formed, so as to allow whey to drain from the molds. This method entails a considerable waste of curd forming mixture in the vat because said mixture curdles rapidly and must be replaced each time it begins to curdle: clearly, the mixture should not have begun to curdle when the molds are immersed therein, Moreover, handling of the molds and the supports, completely immersed in the vat, is not convenient and needs care as to hygiene.
The apparatus shown in FIGS. 13-19 of this application is shown and described in Spanish Pat. No. 526,034 which was filed on Sept. 28, 1983 and which was granted on Sept. 13, 1984. However, the subject matter disclosed in that patent which is also disclosed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 517,829, filed July 27, 1983, is not prior art.